13

Book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn. Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The original Broadway production opened on 5 October 2008 and was directed by Jeremy Sams with choreography by Christopher Gattelli. The production closed on 4 January 2009, running for a total of 105 performances.

Synopsis and Musical Numbers

Things are difficult when you’re thirteen! After his parents’ divorce, Evan Goldman must move to Appleton, Indiana from New York City. He is about to have his Bar Mitzvah in the basement of a church, presided over by a rabbi that he and his mom found online. He is appalled at the prospect of the guest list consisting only of his mom and her friend Pam. Evan thinks that if he can get all the cool kids at his new school, Dan Quayle Junior High, to come to his Bar Mitzvah party, he will make a lot of friends and become cool. Unfortunately this means excluding the only friend he has made, Patrice, an intellectual girl, because she is not cool and would ruin his chances of joining the cool crowd. The independent Patrice becomes angry and decides to not be Evan’s friend anymore.

Evan then encounters a nerdy kid named Archie who is terminally ill with a degenerative muscular disease. Archie tells Evan that if he doesn’t get him a date with the beautiful head cheerleader, Kendra, that he will show up at his Bar Mitzvah and ruin it. Evan reluctantly agrees. At lunch Brett, the popular football player, talks to Evan about making a plan to get him, his posse, Kendra, and Kendra’s jealous friend Lucy, into a rated R horror movie entitled “The Blood Master”. Evan then says that he can use guilt, “The Jews’ greatest contribution to society,” to get his mom to buy them the tickets. He then tells Archie that he will get him into the movie too and arrange for him to sit next to Kendra where he can talk to her. While Lucy and Kendra are getting ready, Lucy tells Kendra that if Kendra makes out with Brett, she will be a slut and a skank. Lucy is jealous of Kendra, and she wants to go out with Brett herself. Brett prepares to make out with Kendra by doing his “exercises”.

At the movie, Archie sits next to Kendra but messes up his opportunity by choking up and answering “Hi Kendra!!!” to the question “Hi, what’s your name?” Archie leaves the theater and informs the manager that there are underage people in movie, and everybody leaves feeling that everything is Evan’s fault. The next day at the football game Brett is still mad and sad that he didn’t get to kiss Kendra. This affects his playing, and he freezes twice during the game. After the second time, Kendra comes out and they make-up and finally kiss. After the game, Evan goes up to the bleachers to Archie and Patrice and helps Archie write a note to Kendra telling her how he feels. Meanwhile, Lucy is spreading a rumor that Evan and Kendra have been fooling around to make Brett upset and leave Kendra. Brett and Evan almost get in a fight, but Brett decides not to waste his energy on Evan and walks away with Lucy.

All of these experiences have helped Evan to realize that being cool is not the only value, and he apologizes to Patrice, setting the stage for his Bar Mitzvah and entry into adulthood. To his surprise, everyone shows up at Evan’s Bar Mitzvah in a happier mood They explain that they found Lucy’s phone and all the phony text messages that she sent out to make it seem like Kendra was cheating on Brett with Evan. They all party, Archie gets a kiss from Kendra, and everybody is happy.

All of these experiences have helped Evan to realize that being cool is not the only value, and he apologizes to Patrice, setting the stage for his Bar Mitzvah and entry into adulthood. To his surprise, everyone shows up at Evan’s Bar Mitzvah in a happier mood They explain that they found Lucy’s phone and all the phony text messages that she sent out to make it seem like Kendra was cheating on Brett with Evan. They all party, Archie gets a kiss from Kendra, and everybody is happy.